Aubespin Scholar Nora Simon, a senior at the University of Oregon, is editor-in-chief of the Oregon Daily Emerald, where she oversees a staff of 40, proofs the paper nightly before sending to the press and edits breaking news for the paper’s website. She had a summer copy editing internship at the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World.
From her application: “I think of copy editors as being the coxswains of their crews. They motivate and teach, yet they are never frantic, even in the most difficult or undesirable circumstances. Even though they aren’t rowing the boat, they still play a crucial role steering and motivating the rest of the crew. It takes a great copy editor, much like a great coxswain, to help words and people realize and fulfill their potential for communicating.”
Judge’s comment: “I appreciated that she sees a career in copy editing as an opportunity for a lifetime of learning. As she so rightly pointed out in her essay: ‘Copy editors are never done learning, no matter how long they’ve been doing their jobs.’ It’s something most of us figure out eventually, but I’m not sure it occurs to most students just starting out (including myself), so I was impressed.
